The Sugar Shack
by MyCedarChest
Summary: Who says that sand in your swimsuit is bad.
1. Chapter 1

Author' Note: **Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man and not to me, even in my wildest dreams. No infringement is intended in any way, and this story is not for profit.**

"I believe the correct term is 'moping' sir." Jarvis said quietly.

Tony was lying on the workshop's well used couch on his back, his head buried under the couch's grease stained throw pillow. "I am NOT moping." came his muffled response.

"Shall I give you Webster's or Oxford's definition, sir?" Jarvis countered.

Tony sighed heavily. It had been 6 weeks since the Expo's disastrous 'hammeroid' attack. His mansion had been repaired. The particle accelerator had been dismantled and safely stored after detailed plans for reconstruction had been documented, and copyrights and patents applied for. Paper work had also been filed for documentation of the new element. Upgrades for both his and Rhody's suits had been completed. He had physically recovered from the palladium poisoning. He and Happy had been working out everyday and Tony had gained weight and muscle mass back. He had even finished the Hot Rod, but refused to take it out on the highway until Pepper could go with him on its "maiden" voyage. However, no matter how busy and tired he had been, he was still having trouble sleeping.

Tony got up off of the couch. "I'm going to try to get some sleep upstairs."

He thought about Pepper again. It had been at his New York penthouse after the Expo. He slowly trudged up the stairs lost in the memory of that night. The battles, the chaos, and the destruction all took a backseat to the feeling of Pepper's body wrapped around his on the living room couch in his penthouse. They had both been exhausted, and after ordering in food and eating, they had both fallen asleep on the couch. During the night, their bodies had naturally moved together. Tony had woken up first the next morning, and at first thought that he was dreaming when he saw Pepper laying on his chest sound asleep. Tony smiled at the memory. He had known at that very moment as he watched Pepper sleep that more than just their bodies were entwined. Tony felt as though his soul had been somehow melded with hers, as if a bonding of sorts had taken place. Yeah, it was weird, but it was a **good** weird.

And now Tony felt that bond was stretched out agonizingly thin. Pepper had agreed to stay on as CEO after the Expo, and was doing one hell of a job putting Stark Industries back together again in the aftermath of the Expo, and of course, Iron Man's continuing battles both at home with the US government, and abroad with terrorists. During the first 3 weeks after the Expo, even though they were both very busy with separate projects, they would always make private time for each other: movie nights at Tony's home, home cooked meals at Pepper's condo, midnight walks on the beach. They had also been sharing more kisses, hand holding, hugs, and even cuddling (a first for Tony he admitted to himself). Tony had taken more cold showers with his new best friend, his right hand, during those three weeks than he could remember taking in his whole life. But all of this physical contact had abruptly stopped when Pepper left on her current trip. She had been flying between the SI New York, London, and Tokyo offices for the past three weeks, and even though he talked to her on the phone every day, Tony finally admitted to himself that he really missed her. He had never, ever missed a woman (except for his Mom of course) in his life, and every day Pepper was away from him was making him more miserable. As he entered the 2nd story hall way on the way towards his bedroom, he suddenly turned around and started walking to the west wing of his mansion, towards the guest bedroom that Pepper used when she stayed overnight.

He took off his work boots, pulled off his shirt and work pants that were covered in grease and metal shavings, and climbed onto Pepper's bed, pulling one of her pillows over onto his bare chest. As he leaned his head down to the pillow, he could still smell Pepper's scent on the pillow. He inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh. Suddenly he cut his eyes towards the ceiling. "If you ever tell Pepper about me sleeping in her bed, I will cancel all of your Ezine subscriptions."

"Understood, sir." The AI replied. "However, I did note that Ms. Potts was rummaging through your closet and had collected a discarded t-shirt of yours, which she then packed with her belongings prior to her leaving on her trip. I have done research on this type of behavior and have learned that familiar scents can have quite a comforting effect on humans."

Tony smiled broadly thinking about Pepper and his t-shirt. Suddenly he felt his eyelids grow heavy. "A very comforting effect, Jarvis. I wish I had done this sooner." He mumbled as he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Tony slowly opened his eyes aware that it was morning and that he still had Pepper's pillow clutched to his chest. He gently tucked the pillow back under the comforter for safe keeping. "You up Jarvis?"

"For you sir, always." The AI responded cheerfully. "From all indications from my sensors, it appears you had a very restful sleep."

Tony stretched out slowly, enjoying the feeling. "Your sensors are right on. I did have a good night's sleep."

"Ms. Pott's flight crew had filed an amended flight plan during the night and is in route to LAX from La Guardia. ETA is two hours and twelve minutes."

Tony jumped up from the bed and headed towards his bedroom. He retrieved his cell phone and quickly dialed Pepper's Blackberry.

"Hi." Pepper whispered sleepily upon answering Tony's call.

"Were you asleep?" Tony whispered back immediately regretting waking her.

"Yeah, I was taking a nap. Plans to go to Tokyo again were scrapped when they finally admitted that they weren't ready for the follow up meeting from the last follow up meeting we had. I am getting better about pushing the 'truth or dare' button with that group." She tried to stifle a yawn but failed.

"That's good news" Tony started "coming home that is."

Pepper sighed heavily into the phone. "I'm homesick." She admitted, then added softly "I miss you."

Tony smiled. "I miss you too." That was the first time that either of them had admitted that out loud since Pepper left Tony three weeks ago.

"I didn't call you about the CIP because it was the middle of the night in California, and I was hoping you were asleep." Pepper quietly explained.

"It's OK. And I actually was asleep. You've been talking to Jarvis again haven't you about my sleep habits?" Tony gently chided.

"Don't blame Jarvis." She explained in defense of the ever loyal AI "I forced him to tell me."

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Tony said looking up as he muffled the phone.

"Technically yours, sir" Jarvis spoke "however, Ms. Potts has proven herself again and again as better qualified to take care of you than yourself, so **technically** I am on her side when it comes to your well being."

"I heard **that** Jarvis." Pepper laughed as Tony grimaced. "Are you going to pick me up at the airport?"

Tony suddenly heard music in the background and heard Pepper shuffling her Blackberry. The tune was somewhat familiar. "Sorry about that." She apologized, "I bumped my laptop during some turbulence and turned on the CD player by mistake."

"Of course I will pick you. Which car would you like me to bring?" he asked knowing how she would answer.

"Whichever one you want to bring is fine by me." She replied.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours then." Tony replied turning to look out the window as movement caught his attention.

"OK" was Pepper's reply as she disconnected from the call.

Appearing on the horizon and headed towards Zuma Beach was a single engine airplane pulling a banner above the beach front. The banner read: 'Saturday Beach Volleyball tournament at Zuma Beach benefitting the Northern Los Angeles County Women's Shelter'

"Jarvis" Tony asked as he watched the plane fly out of sight. "Get me and Pepper signed up for the Beach Volleyball tournament at Zuma. Tony's mind shifted into overdrive as he detailed his plan of action. "And also contact Aerial Banner Advertising and order a banner for a flyover of Zuma Beach for Saturday afternoon. Offer to pay them extra for the short notice, whatever it takes to get that banner flown over the beach during the tournament."

"As you wish, sir." Jarvis replied "Ms. Potts does enjoy playing beach volleyball, and after 3 weeks of indoor meetings would no doubt enjoy being outside in a somewhat unstructured environment. The Women's Shelter is also one of her favorite charities."

"My thoughts exactly." Tony smiled. "This is what I want you to have the banner printed with."

After Tony had given Jarvis the banner message, Tony looked up expectantly, waiting for Jarvis's no doubt sarcastic comment.

"Very good, sir." The AI responded much to Tony's own surprise "I will see to it that the banner is printed with those exact words. Any color suggestions?"

Tony thought for a moment. "I guess red and gold would be a bit too much, so how about a red background with white lettering. That should stand out against the sky enough to be legible."

"Good choice, sir." Jarvis said "And may I also say 'good luck' too, sir."

Tony walked into his bathroom with a huge grin on his face. He had needed to shower and shave. He grabbed his razor and looked at himself in the mirror for a few minutes before deciding to shave off his goatee. He was hoping that a different look might throw off the paparazzi enough so perhaps he and Pepper could blend into the crowd at the tournament and really enjoy themselves. Pepper had only seen him without the goatee (and eyebrows too for that matter) a couple of times due to incidents involving flash fires in the workshop. He was hoping that being beardless wouldn't be a turn off for Pepper. He could always grow it back in a couple of days. He looked at his hair. He needed to cut it even before Pepper had left and now it was really getting long. This too would help disguise him. He parted his hair in the middle and looked at himself and smiled. Soon the goatee was gone, shower finished, and he was dressed in worn jeans with a thick black vintage Deep Purple t-shirt, threadbare MIT ball cap turned backwards, sun shades, and worn work boots. He gave himself the once over in the mirror.

"Hey Jarvis, think anyone will recognize me?" Tony said looking again at himself in the mirror.

"Let's hope Airport Security does, sir." Came the terse reply from the AI.

Tony chuckled at the AI as he hurried down the stairs to the remodeled garage area. He was suddenly happy that the DMV had issued antique car plates for the hot rod. It would have blown his cover completely to have "STARK 1" plates on the hot rod.

He started up the hot rod, closed his eyes and sighed. "Thanks, Dad." He whispered softly as he slowly pulled out of the garage.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It took over an hour to get to LAX in the heavy morning traffic on the PCH, but Tony didn't care because he realized that he was having fun just driving the hot rod. The car was running flawlessly as expected. Tony couldn't wait to see the look on Pepper's face when she saw the car.

Tony did have trouble getting through airport security, and had to call in a favor from the airport director to get both him and the hot rod into the SI hanger area. He saw Cedric's car parked in the hanger as well as his pilot's, and security guard's. The ground crew had just arrived and were waiting to guide the jet into the hanger and run their maintenance routines. Tony parked the hot rod in the hanger next to Cedric's car and waited outside until he saw the SI jet touch down.

As Tony expected, the SI ground crew's chief, Tom Clancy walked up to Tony.

"Sir, this is a private hanger, I am going to ask you to leave."

Tony smiled and lowered his sunshades "You can't do that Tom, I own the jet!"

"Oh, sorry Mr. Stark" Tom chuckled upon hearing Tony's voice. "I didn't recognize you without the.." Tom then put the fingers of one hand on his jaw and made a motion like stroking an invisible beard.

"It's OK." Tony replied still smiling. He had known Tom for over 10 years and Tom didn't even recognize him. This was going to be fun.

Then he went inside to hide out in the crew quarters. He heard the jet engine whine as the jet slowly taxied into the hanger and the engines where shut down. Once the crew moved the boarding stairs into place, Tony quickly climbed up the stairs as the cabin door opened inward. He came face to face with Cedric, Pepper's head assistant.

"Hi Cedi." Tony said smiling "Did you take good care of my lady for me?"

Cedric opened and closed his mouth a few times refusing to move from where he was blocking Tony's path inside the jet. "Mr. … Mr. Stark?" he asked. Cedric had only been Pepper's assistant for four years, and had never seen Tony clean shaven. His shocked expression only lasted a second, however. Then his face was back to its professional mask. Tony had always claimed that Cedric was a long lost brother of Pepper's. They had the same temperament, same strawberry blond hair, and skin type complete with freckles. Pepper would, on occasion, call him 'her little brother'. Cedric was a few years younger than Pepper, married with 2 young children, degreed in business administration, and as efficient and loyal of an employee as Tony had ever seen.

"What? You mean you don't recognize me?" he kidded as Cedric stiffly moved to the side of the hatch way allowing Tony to enter the jet.

Tony turned to the left and walked into the cockpit area to greet Bill and Jerry. Bill had been with SI for over 30 years, and Jerry over 10 years. Bill had been flying Tony around the world since he was 5 years old. They were his best pilots and that's why Tony had them flying Pepper to all of her meetings.

Tony smiled at them both as they got up from their seats. "Thanks for taking good care of Pepper for me." He told them holding out his hand to Bill and shaking his hand.

Bill eyed him with humor, and moved his free hand to pull at an imaginary beard. "Always a pleasure to fly Ms. Potts. She takes good care of her people, too. Sooo what's the occasion? You didn't set fire to yourself again did you?"

Tony smiled at Bill warily, then turned and reached out and shook Jerry's hand.

"You do totally look different without the goatee." Jerry commented looking over at Bill quickly and then back to Tony. "Did you really set yourself on fire?"

"No, I did **not **set myself on fire again." Tony countered "Give me a break Bill, the last time was over 5 years ago and I was hung over and distracted. And I don't drink anymore. I actually used a razor this time."

They all laughed as Tony turned and moved towards the passenger cabin. The pilots followed him out and proceeded to gather up their luggage and de-plane. Tony noticed that Cedric was still watching him suspiciously.

"Ms. Potts is in the executive restroom changing into casual attire, Mr. Stark." Cedric commented as Tony stared back at him, about to question Cedric about his mind reading skills.

Six SI security guards then filed past them throwing casual salutes and a series of "Hello Mr. Starks" towards Tony. 'Can't fool SI Security' Tony thought wryly.

"Jimmy" Tony called out to the lead security man. "Thanks keeping an eye on Ms. Potts. Any issues that I should know about that Ms. Potts would keep from me?"

"Actually Mr. Stark" Jimmy started "we had a very uneventful trip. There was more paparazzi than normal, but nothing we couldn't handle. Ms. Potts did a great job at controlling the press. No incidents to report."

Tony reached out and shook Jimmy's hand. "Thanks."

Jimmy smiled at Tony. "New look or just trying to hide out, Mr. Stark."

"For right now, just trying to hide out." Tony replied with a grin.

"Role reversal time for you, Mr. Stark." Jimmy replied "Ms. Potts is becoming very, very popular with the paparazzi and the public. If you two are going out in public together, you may want to get her to disguise herself too. If you need us to run block for you just call me."

"Thanks for the advice and the offer of help, Jimmy." Tony said as Jimmy saluted him again and grabbed his rolling suitcase and walked down the aisle to leave.

Cedric had gathered up his belongings and was standing near the rear of the jet in the aisle way hunched over his Blackberry. "Mr. Stark, I'm not leaving until I talk to my boss, no matter how much you want to be left alone with her." Cedric stated very matter of factly not even looking up at Tony.

"Can you read my mind now, Cedi?" Tony teased and made an exaggerated, angry face at Cedric.

Cedric calmly looked up at Tony. "I don't read minds, Mr. Stark, but I do read people well. Off the clock, Ms. Potts has been moping around missing you like a love-struck adolescent since we left LA three weeks ago. And in speaking with Jarvis, I know you have been behaving the same way."

"What!" Tony exclaimed looking at Cedric sternly "You have been talking to Jarvis too, and checking up on me like Pepper does?"

"Yes sir, but only when Ms. Potts asks me to, when she has been in long meetings and unable to call Jarvis herself." Cedric answered honestly. "You know she worries about you all the time when you are apart from each other. Please forgive my forwardness, sir, it has been a long three weeks for **all** of us, but why don't you just marry her already? The two of you act more married than Sherri and I do, and we've been married for eight years."

Tony was struck by the sincerity and frankness in Cedric's words. Tony's stoic expression broke down into a small smile. "I will take that under advisement, Cedric."

The sound of a door closing signaled Pepper's imminent appearance, and Cedric turned towards the direction of the closing door. Tony ducked into the service aisle to avoid being spotted by Pepper.

"Ms. Potts," Cedric started "even though Mr. Stark did his very best to get me off the jet, I just wanted to let you know that I was leaving, and ask if there is anything else I can do for you."

Pepper glanced warily around the passenger compartment, a small smile appearing on her face. "Thanks, Cedi. No, I don't need you to do anything for me except to go home and be with your family. Don't even ask about working Monday, or even Tuesday. You are officially off until Wednesday morning."

Cedric smiled at her. "Yes ma am. Thank you. Have a good weekend Ms. Potts." With that Cedric walked down the aisle, not even glancing at where Tony had hidden himself.

"OK Tony, come out of your hiding place." Pepper said softly.

As Cedric stepped off the jet, Tony came around the corner with a huge smile on his face, and walked quickly towards Pepper. Pepper's facial expression changed from elation to worry immediately when she saw his face.

"You didn't set yourself on fire again, did you?" she exclaimed moving swiftly to meet him half ways down the aisle.

She raised her hands to his face and began turning his head from one side to the other, looking for injuries.

"I did **not** set my self on fire again." Tony said in an exasperated voice. "I'm **fine**. I just wanted to take you out on the town and avoid some of the press…you know a date-in-disguise sort of thing. God, I missed you, Pepper."

Tony's hands moved quickly to her face and he gently caressed Pepper's cheeks. Then he leaned in to kiss her tenderly on the lips. Pepper's hands left Tony's face and slowly moved to the back of his neck.

A throat being cleared broke up the kiss within seconds.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to clean and service the jet now." Tom Clancy said in an apologetic way. "Do you need help with your luggage, Ms. Potts?"

"Not to worry, Tom" Tony quickly replied entwining his hands with Pepper's "I was just about to get her luggage."

Tony let go of her hands and quickly grabbed Pepper's large rolling suitcase and pulled her garment bag off the coat rack. Pepper picked up her satchel and a small rolling suitcase and they both made their way off the jet and descended the stairs into the hanger area.

"Tony, which car are you…" Pepper abruptly stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes locked on the hot rod, her mouth open in surprise.

Tony smiled at her and opened the hot rod's trunk placing her bags inside. "Let me have your bags and I'll lock them up."

"You finished the hot rod." Pepper said quietly as Tony took her bags from her and placed them in the trunk closing it and walked to the passenger's side door.

"You do have a talent for understatement, Ms. Potts." Tony replied as he stood by the passenger side door. As she walked towards him, he looked her up and down, and noticed she was dressed in pale blue Capri pants, with a white, long sleeve button down linen shirt. She had taken out a pale blue sun hat out of her bag, and had pulled on a pair of sunglasses. In her casual clothes, she was no longer his CEO, but his woman, a very beautiful woman. He continued to stare at her intently. She raised her arms and tucked her hair neatly under the sun hat, as Tony eyes were drawn automatically to her breasts. She slowly moved towards the hot rod, stopping directly in front of him.

"So, is this the hot rod's maiden voyage?" she asked placing her hands gently on his chest, and slowly moving them up to rest on his shoulders. Their eyes locked as he dimly became aware that she was in flats and that he was actually an inch or two taller than her now.

"Yes." He replied putting his hands on her hips, rubbing circles with his thumbs. The wind shifted and he breathed in her scent and sighed "It's only fitting that you should go on the maiden voyage with me."

She looked deeply into his eyes and found herself holding back tears. "I am honored."

"No" he said softly, "I am the one that should feel honored. You have patiently watched me work on this car for almost 11 years. You've even helped me work on it. I just felt that now was the time to finish and get the hot rod out on the road to show it off to the world. Kinda like what I want to do with you too, as my woman."

Pepper's eyes mirrored the love and affection in Tony's eyes "Your woman, huh." She moved her hands to the back of his neck and gently pulled him down for a kiss. The kiss was short, mindful that they were in public, but full of passion and promise. When they broke the kiss, Tony pulled his right hand from her hip and opened the car door for her. Pepper's hands fell away from Tony's neck, quickly caressing his cheeks as she moved to sit down in the car seat. He closed her door after she was seated, gently pushing the door lock down to lock the door as Pepper put her seat belt on, and pulled her hat more securely down on her head.

Tony got into the hot rod and put on his seat belt as he cranked the starter. The hot rod roared to life and Tony pulled out of the hanger and away from the airport.


	3. Chapter 3

"What would you like for lunch? I know that you ate breakfast on Eastern Time, so you must be hungry by now." Tony asked her as they stopped at a traffic light. He hadn't even eaten breakfast and was starving, but there was no way he was going to admit that to her at the moment. Tony had propped his right arm up on the seat behind her and slowly let his hand trail down to the side of her neck, caressing her.

"Can we head back to Malibu and have lunch there?" she replied reaching out and laying her left hand on his right knee. "I have been craving Duke's fish tacos for two weeks."

"Duke's it is, my lady." He said as the light turned green.

They made their way thru downtown Santa Monica and onto the PCH in silence, interrupted only by Tony's shifting gears and the associated rumbling sound from hot rod's engine.

Pepper had leaned over towards Tony at one of the red lights and started running the fingers of her left hand through Tony's hair on the back of his neck. "Your hair has gotten so long, Tony." She commented, content to keep stroking his hair.

"I keep forgetting to call Sid in to cut it." Tony admitted at the next red light, leaning towards her and kissing her softly on the cheek.

Tony could feel their invisible bond grow stronger with each passing minute. The feel of her fingers in his hair made him happy, and, as usual, horny. Good thing he decided on jeans and not sweatpants today. Three weeks of Pepper deprivation had his libido raising its head (literally) every time Pepper touched him.

In what seemed to be all too quickly, Tony spotted the Duke's sign on the left and pulled into the turn lane for valet parking. He switched out his key for the valet key and pocketed his key as the overly eager valet opened Pepper's door and helped her out of the car by holding her hand. The thinly disguised warning look that he gave the valet made the young man nervous as he made his way around the car to take the valet key from Tony.

"Sorry, sir." Was all the valet could think to say under his breath to Tony. Tony nodded to the young man and walked over to where Pepper was waiting on him.

Pepper smiled tightly at him. "You didn't just threaten the valet, did you?"

He wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered into her ear as he opened the door to the restaurant and pulled her inside. "Not overtly. You know that I can't stand anyone else, especially strangers, touching you. I'm getting better though: at least I didn't punch him."

"What am I going to do with you." Pepper quietly said rolling her eyes.

"I have some really great ideas for you." He teased ending with a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Welcome to Dukes" came the host's greeting "Table for two, correct?"

Tony pulled his hat down slightly as if to hide, and Pepper spoke up. "Correct. And we would like to have a booth in the bar, please".

Pepper knew that the bar was always less crowded than the dining room at lunchtime, and they served fish tacos all day at the bar.

Pepper slipped into the booth and Tony slid in next to her. The waiter soon joined them, bringing them water and taking their orders quickly. Pepper ordered the fish tacos and Tony the Mango BBQ Burger. Both ordered bottled waters with their lunch. The bar had a local radio station turned on for background music and a PSA advertising the Zuma Beach charity beach volleyball tournament tomorrow could be heard over the din of the restaurant. Tony realized that he had forgotten to ask Pepper about playing in the tournament.

"How do you feel about being in a local outdoors charity event tomorrow?" Tony asked slipping his fingers around Pepper's right hand and squeezing gently.

Pepper turned to him and raised her left hand to Tony's forehead. "Funny, you don't feel like you have a fever." She teased, then her brows furrowed in concentration. "Would that be the volleyball tourney at Zuma for the Women's Shelter, by chance?"

"How did you know? Jarvis isn't talking behind my back again, is he?" Tony replied as Pepper trailed her fingers down his cheek.

"I accepted the position of board member of the LA County Women's Shelter last week, and we had been discussing the Zuma Beach fundraiser. It's the only outdoor fundraiser I could think of at the moment. Besides that, I was listening to the radio announcement, too." Pepper explained. "Did you enter us as a team?"

"No, my somewhat traitorous AI did." Tony replied.

"That's why you shaved, isn't it? So you could play beach volleyball without being recognized." Pepper quietly said. She then pulled up his left t-shirt sleeve to reveal his well-muscled bicep and smiled at him "I don't know, but with these arms and that body to go with them, you may not be recognized, but you are going to get noticed by all of the women at Zuma Beach. I may have to start throwing around warning looks around myself in order to keep them away from you. You know how possessive I can be."

Tony looked at her and smiled, then he comically flexed his bicep as her hand rested on it. "So you only want me for my body then?"

"Exactly." She replied leaning over to kiss him gently on the lips.

"I can live with that." Tony replied kissing her back, wrapping both arms around her.

The waiter appeared suddenly with a tray of food for them.

"Ooops! Sorry to interrupt" the waiter said good naturedly as he set their plates down in front of them. "but you do need to eat to keep your strength up." With that said, he smiled at the two of them and left.

"He's working his way up to a great tip." Tony replied grabbing his burger and taking a huge bite out of it.

They finished lunch, leaving the waiter a hefty tip. Pepper made Tony give the valet a sizable tip as atonement for his earlier threat. They were soon back on the PCH.

"Tony, you do realize that as a 'team', you and I are going to have to have somewhat matched beachwear." Pepper teased as she pulled on the sleeve of his Deep Purple t-shirt.

"I have been dreading this." Tony sadly started "First it's beachwear, then in 50 years or so, we will be wearing matching Christmas sweaters."

Pepper laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "What do you mean 'in 50 years or so'?"

"I'm sorry" he apologized in a suddenly serious tone "What I meant to say is 'forever', Pepper. That's how long we will be together, you know."

Pepper sucked in a quick breath and looked at him. Tony had his eyes straight ahead on the road, but she saw that his hands now had a death grip on the steering wheel and his knuckles were beginning to turn white. She had never, ever heard him use the word 'forever', in all the years that she had known him. He just wasn't the type of person to commit to anything long term. At least he wasn't before Afghanistan.

Pepper waited until they pulled up to the next red light before she spoke so as to not be misunderstood. "I **can** do forever, Tony." She said as she tugged on his sleeve gently, then added teasingly "But forget about the Christmas sweaters, it's Easter Hats or nothing." She continued, smiling as she raised her left hand to stroke his beardless cheek.

Tony laughed relaxing his grip on the steering wheel. "OK, no sweaters! But how about Becker's for the matching beachwear? Unless, of course, you want me to take you to Canyon Beachwear so you can model bikinis for me for the rest of the afternoon."

"Not unless I can take you to Koala's, so you can model G strings for me." Pepper replied waggling her eyebrows.

Tony looked sharply at Pepper and began to actually blush. He quickly turned his head away.

Pepper started laughing so hard, that she was in tears as Tony pulled off of PCH and onto the street near Becker Surf Shop. He pulled into a parking spot and shut off the engine. He refused to look at her as Pepper continued to laugh, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Oh Tony!" she cried as she unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed his arm trying to pull him into a hug.

He tried to keep a straight face, but a small smile broke out on his face as he unfastened his seat belt and turned to her to wrap his arms around her in a hug. "I bet Koala's doesn't make a G string big enough for **me** to fit in." he said leaning his head down to whisper in her ear seductively.

Tony then pulled his arms out of the hug and gently wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks as he leaned in to kiss her. His hands went around her hips possessively, and her arms reached around behind his shoulders to pull him closer. This kiss was a deep, lustful one the likes of which Tony had wanted to give Pepper all day. He figured that this quiet parking lot off of PCH would be a fine place for such a kiss. Pepper moaned softly causing him to deepen the kiss. He gently pushed her down onto the bench seat, still kissing her. As he rearranged his legs so he could settle his body onto hers, he accidently pushed against the key fob which immediately set the car alarm off, sending both of them bolting upright in the seat. Tony fumbled for a few seconds before managing to turn the alarm off.

"Perhaps we should go inside now." Pepper calmly said looking over at him, and then glancing around the parking lot.

"Right." Tony replied getting out of the hot rod quickly and moving to Pepper's door. He opened the door for her and held out one hand and took both of her hands into one hand. He closed the car door and set the alarm.

"Sorry I got carried away" he apologized pulling her into him and wrapping an arm around her waist as they walked towards the store. "Three weeks without touching you has made it hard to control my libido."

"My libido has taken quite a beating too being away from you for so long." Pepper reminded him as she too wrapped her arm around his waist. Then she quickly reached down and squeezed his left buttocks, as Tony sucked in a quick breath and his eyes went wide. She chuckled softly as she moved her hand back up to rub his back between his shoulder blades soothingly. "See, now we're even."

Tony was having trouble focusing on anything now, but he still managed to steer Pepper towards the ladies section of the store, specifically to the swimwear racks. Pepper politely waved off the sales personnel, so they could be alone.

"I can help." He said as he released her from his grip, and immediately started pulling string bikinis off of the rack.

"I will not play beach volley ball in a string bikini" she said as she took the string bikinis from his hands and re-hung them on the rack. She then took his hand and pulled him over to the ladies surf shorts rack. He pulled his hand away from her grip and moved away from her, sulking. He then sat down heavily on a nearby surfboard which had been made into a bench, and proceeded to give her his best sad puppy dog eyes.

"But Peeeepeeer." He whined loudly. She smiled at him and started pulling out surf shorts in various shades of blue from the rack.

"I think solid shorts for me with a matching blue floral top." Pepper said glancing over at him. "That way you can get a blue floral, but manly of course, pair of shorts."

"Can I at least pick out your top?" he pleaded getting up and moving towards her.

She smiled shyly at him. "Do you know my size Tony?"

"Sure I do." He responded without hesitation. "You're the **perfect** size."

She tucked one of her hands under his chin and kissed him soundly on the lips. "That was a great answer, Tony." She then pulled him over to stand next to her by the tops rack.

He looked at her expectantly, and she nodded towards the rack.

"I like this one…oh, and this one, and this one, and this one." He said as he started pulling tops off of the rack. He was trying to be conservative in his selections and pick out tops that she would like. But he was also picking out ones he wanted her to model for him.

They ended up with eight tops and eight bottoms for her to try on.

His eyes were glued to the dressing room door as he waited on the bench for her to model the first suit. She came out a few minutes later with the first suit combination on. His mouth dropped open as he gazed upon her body, starting at her feet and making it only as far as her breasts. He then quickly removed his ball cap and placed it over his crotch as he crossed his legs.

"I take it you approve" she teased, noting his ball cap positioning and his crossed legs. This was not the first time she had seen this maneuvering from Tony.

"Oh yeah… I like it a lot." He replied, his eyes glazing over as he continued to stare at her body. "I mean…oh yeah, I approve…oh boy… I approve a lot!"

After 40 minutes of modeling suits, Tony was on the verge of passing out due to lack of blood flow to the brain. His responses to Pepper's questions had been reduced to single word answers, and then finally to grunts mixed with head shakes.

Pepper finally selected a pair of bottoms and one top. Tony's eyes lit up at her selection.

"Do you need a few minutes to yourself or are you ready to pick out your shorts?"

She teased sitting next to him on the bench.

"Uh…what?" he answered as he stared at her blankly. "Uh…no, well, maybe." He looked at her questioningly. "Are you going to help me out in the dressing room?"

"This isn't **that** type of store, Tony." She teased pulling him up off the bench and walked, hand in hand with him into the men's swimwear area. She immediately pulled a pair of shorts off the rack "Oh, I like these shorts."

Pepper continued to pull Tony along as she selected shorts for him to try on. She then moved to the surf tops rack and pulled out two sleeveless blue shirts that matched the color blue of her shorts. Tony had almost 11 years of experience with her dressing him. Buying beachwear was no different. She finally pushed him towards the men's dressing rooms placing the various pieces she had selected into his hands.

"Are you OK to try these on, or do you need some more time to recover?" she teased again.

He snapped his head up and looked at her with confidence. "Oh yeah. Now it's my turn to turn **you** on."

He swaggered into the dressing room knowing that her eyes were glued to his backside. He was glad that he had recently designed a new cover for his reactor. The high impact shield was textured and colored to match his chest. No more glow in the dark Tony. He was still careful to select thicker material for shirts, simply because the thicker material was more comfortable for him. As he took off his jeans, he whispered to himself 'Down boy, down'. These shorts would not provide any restrictions for his erection. He willed himself to calm down and focus on turning Pepper on and not turning himself on. As he stepped out in his first set of clothing, he forced himself to look at a spot just above Pepper's head. He turned slowly around, so she could get a good look at his backside, too.

Just as he feared, Pepper was not going to play fair at all. She got up from the bench and moved to him, running her hands over his chest and then his waistline making sure that the clothes fit him well. This was something that she had always done for him in the past when he was trying on suits. Her hands had always turned him on. But now, since they were romantically involved, his body had absolutely no power to defend itself from himself. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. His erection stopped at half mast. He could feel her eyes upon him, but she suddenly withdrew her hands from his body.

"I'm sorry, Tony." She explained softly "I am so use to touching you to make sure that your clothes fit well, that I can't help myself."

Tony breathed out a sigh of relief. "I wanted to turn you on, but my body is out of control when you touch me like that."

Pepper laughed softly. "You **are** turning me on. You know that I love your legs. Every time I see you in shorts, I .."

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She had her head buried in her hands as she sat back down on the bench.

"Pepper, are you OK?" he asked softly.

She looked up at him, her face and neck a bright shade of red. "Just embarrassed. I can't believe I just told on myself."

"But you never finished what you were saying." He reminded her, smiling. "You were saying that every time you see me in shorts, you…"

"I have to change my panties." She finished burying her head in her hands again.

Tony smiled victoriously at her. "Looks like tomorrow on the beach is going to be tough on both of us. I get a raging hard on every time I see you in a swimsuit or you touch me, and you get aroused every time you check out my legs."

"Well, hopefully actually playing the game of volleyball will distract us from each other, at least on an arousal basis." She replied as she raised her head up again, the redness starting to fade. "I'll try to control myself while you finish trying on beach wear, Tony."

Pepper had the final say, as usual, in selecting Tony's shorts and top. It was almost four o'clock when they left Becker's driving towards Tony's mansion on PCH.


	4. Chapter 4

While Pepper was gone on her trip, his appetite was practically non-existent, and Happy and Jarvis had been pushing him to eat everyday. They even had to resort to threatening him with tattling on him by calling Pepper. That had helped a little, since he didn't want to make Pepper worry more about him than she usually did. Since Pepper had returned this morning, so had Tony's appetite in a big way. "What are we doing for dinner, Pep?"

"I got to pick lunch, so you get to pick dinner. I could always cook." She replied leaning over to rub the backs of her fingers over the evening stubble on his cheek and chin.

"You've been gone for 3 weeks. There's no way you should have to cook tonight. Unless you want to of course." He gave her a hopeful glance. He liked when she cooked for him. She would always cook his favorite dishes.

"I know that you have been eating nothing but fast food and junk food since I left." She said "We could stop at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients, and I could prepare lasagna for us for dinner."

Pepper's lasagna was the absolute favorite of Tony's. "I'll help you cook. And I will wash dishes." He replied excitedly.

"Tony, you never wash dishes." She teased.

"There's a first time for everything." He replied taking her left hand in his right hand and squeezing her ring finger as they turned off PCH towards the grocery store. Tony was hoping that Pepper caught his double meaning. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that she did turn her head towards him, and was currently studying him intently.

Tony couldn't remember the last time he was in a grocery store. Pepper or Happy were the ones who went to the store for him. Pepper and Jarvis always ordered groceries and had them delivered to the mansion. As Tony wheeled a small grocery cart along the produce aisle, he watched Pepper carefully, trying to anticipate her next move so he could parallel her movements and not get in her way. She was moving fast, being familiar with both the store and her memorized ingredients. However, every time she came back to the cart to place something in it, she would either hug him or place a quick kiss to his cheek. It was like she was rewarding him for good behavior. Tony smiled. Tony realized he was content just to watch her move around the store. He especially liked the view of her backside in front of him, and found himself staring at her unabashedly. Tony suddenly realized that didn't want to cause undue attention to himself or Pepper by ogling her, so he casually looked around at other couples as they shopped. It seemed that he and Pepper were acting just like the other couples. Tony smiled again to himself at his thought: he had spent his whole life standing out in the crowd, and now all he wanted was to blend in. As they traveled down the pasta aisle Pepper came to a sudden halt as she encountered a toddler and mom in front of the lasagna noodles. Tony stopped about four feet behind her. The baby smiled at Pepper and she smiled back. The look on Pepper's face was not like any he had ever seen on her before. It was a mixture of joy and longing. Pepper started to talk to the baby's mother, but that conversation was lost on Tony. All he could focus on was the look on Pepper's face. It suddenly dawned on him that he had never thought about being a father in a positive way until this moment. The thought of Pepper having his children filled his mind. As the child and mother moved past him, the baby waved "bye" to him. Tony snapped out of his daydream, and waved back to the child.

Pepper placed the package of lasagna noodles in their cart, glancing at Tony in an amused fashion.

"I think we need some of those." Tony said quietly.

"Some of what Tony?" she asked confused, looking at the shelves directly across the aisle from them

"Kids, Pepper." He finished, stealing a sideways glance at her. "You know. You and me having babies together. You'd make a great mom."

Pepper tilted her head down almost shyly and reached out to tug on his t-shirt gently. She slowly looked up at him, her eyes locking with his. Tony suddenly realized that he was holding his breath.

"And you would make a great dad." She said softly giving him a dimpled smile.

Tony quickly reached out and hugged her so hard that he actually picked her feet up off of the floor. Pepper squeaked in surprise. Other shoppers on the aisle turned in their direction.

"Tony, please put me down." Pepper said embarrassed, looking at the other shoppers who were either smiling or laughing at them.

"I don't want to." Tony replied laughing as he turned all the way around with her still in his arms.

She quickly pulled his ball cap off and planted a kiss on the top of his head quickly replacing the cap as he lowered her to the ground.

"We can talk more about this at home." She softly said.

Tony understood the implications of both the "more" and the "home" part of what she had just said to him, and he was very hopeful for a continuation of this conversation sometime in the near future.

It was a quiet ride back to Tony's mansion. Tony was reviewing his plan for tomorrow and making a mental list of preparation and supplies. Pepper seemed lost in her thoughts too, but he could see her out of the corner of his eye looking at him occasionally.

When they arrived in the mansion garage, the bots carried Pepper's suitcases to her bedroom and Tony and Pepper carried groceries into the kitchen.

"Hands first, sir." Pepper said moving to the sink. Tony slid next to her at the kitchen sink gently bumping hips with her.

"What would you like me to do?" he asked as she started to arrange items. Pepper began to give instructions to Tony as she started pulling pots and pans from the cabinets.

Tony actually enjoyed cooking with Pepper. After all, cooking was basic, edible science. He remembered cooking with his mom and how much fun they had together. Pepper would occasionally put her chin on his shoulder and her hands on his hips as she oversaw his work. These touches were always appreciated by Tony, and he did his best to encourage her as he moved into her personal space as much as possible.

After Pepper slid the pan of lasagna into the oven, Tony spun her around and wrapped his arms around her waist to hug her.

"I am so glad to have you home." He said softly and sincerely.

"I am glad to be home, too." Pepper admitted laying her head on Tony's shoulder and rubbing his back in long, smooth strokes. "I think three weeks is way too long to be gone, and I'm going to make sure that all future business trips are to be one week max."

Tony leaned down to kiss her and she responded to him by deepening the kiss. When they broke, it was only because oxygen depletion had become an issue.

"I'm going to take a shower before dinner." She whispered.

"I could join you in the shower." He offered in his usual manner knowing how she would react.

"Nice try Tony." She started stroking his cheek "But I think we need to shower separately. Please keep an eye on the lasagna, Jarvis."

"Yes, Ms. Potts." Jarvis replied.

"Thank you." Pepper said pulling away from Tony. "See you in about 45 minutes then?"

"Yeah." He replied stamping a quick kiss on her forehead, taking her hand as they walked up the stairs to the bedroom level. He kissed her again at the top of the stairs, then watched her as she slowly walked down the hallway towards her bedroom.

After she had shut the bedroom door, Tony slowly made his way into his bedroom, then into the bathroom. He pulled his clothes off throwing into the clothes hamper, and then turned to look at himself in the mirror. He needed to shave again before going back downstairs for dinner. But first he needed to take some of the pressure off of his raging hormones. He stepped into the shower as the water turned on automatically. As he slid his right hand up and down his rapidly hardening shaft, he thought about Pepper. In particular Pepper being eight months pregnant. Her round tummy and full breasts burned into his brain and within a minute he felt his orgasm building at the base of his spine. With a shout, he came hard, leaning into the shower wall. He suddenly found himself sitting on the seating ledge, his head back against the shower wall and the warm water cascading down onto his face. He moaned loudly realizing that he couldn't recall coming that hard ever by his own hand, or even how he had managed to sit down without falling down. He rested a few minutes until he felt himself start to drift off to sleep. Then he forced himself to stand back up and wash his body and his hair. Once out of the shower he shaved and combed his hair. He pulled on a pair of old MIT sweat pants and a Black Sabbath t-shirt with the sleeves cut out of it. The smell the lasagna cooking drifted into the hallway as he left his bedroom and headed downstairs. He went into the kitchen remembering that Pepper always made a garlic spread to go on the bread. He pulled off 2 cloves of fresh garlic and proceeded to crush the garlic using a large knife. He turned to grab Pepper's recipe book off of a shelf when he noticed Pepper emerging from the laundry room.

"Hi" she said moving over to where he was fumbling through the pages of her book. "Looking for the garlic spread recipe?"

"Yeah." He answered as she placed her arm around his waist and turned several pages in the book to the correct recipe. "Thanks" he said as he planted a kiss on the top of her damp hair. "You smell good."

"Why, thank you. You smell like…garlic." She replied wrinkling her nose at him.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said smiling at her as she opened the refrigerator door to pull out the butter and set it on the counter. As she leaned over to pull the salad out, Tony eyes tracked her movements noticing her pink yoga pants covering up one of the most perfect asses he had ever seen in his life, pink Minnie Mouse t-shirt covering a sports bra, and bare feet. Suddenly the term 'bare foot and pregnant' came into his mind and he shifted his hips uncomfortably, pushing himself into the cabinet slightly in an effort to rearrange his rising erection without notice. He tried to focus all his attention into reading the recipe.

"What's up?" she asked noticing him furrowing his brow at the recipe book. Tony squeezed his eyes shut at her choice of words. Her hips bumped against his and he groaned quietly "Is there something wrong with the recipe?"

"Nope" he said quickly "I seem to be having trouble concentrating. It may have something to do with the fact that I am starving." That wasn't a lie he told himself. The fact that his body was starving for Pepper he would keep to himself.

"Oh Tony." She replied pulling the bowl and cutting board over in front of her "I can finish the garlic spread. Why don't you have some salad to take the edge off. It will only be ten minutes or so before dinner is ready."

"OK, sure." He said as he moved away from her towards the salad bowl. "Just a few bites. Then I will set the table."

He made his way to the other side of the counter opposite where Pepper was working, using the counter to hide his erection. He continued to look at her while playing with his salad. "Do you want to eat in here or in the living room?"

"You choose, since you are setting the table." She looked up at him and smiled "You haven't touched your salad. Are you waiting on the main course?"

He shoved a fork full of salad into his mouth and quickly turned and walked into the living room. Right now the only main course he was interested in was Pepper. As he looked down at his tenting sweatpants, he was now debating whether or not to take another cold shower quickly before dinner. He then tried concentrating on calculations for the latest upgrade of the suit for a few minutes as he slowly got his hormones back under control. He finished up his salad and set his bowl on the sofa table. He returned to the kitchen. "Let's eat in the living room. What movie would you like to watch with dinner?"

"How about 'Kung Fu Hustle'?" Pepper answered. "We started watching it in New York. It's an action adventure spoof of martial arts movies. It was hysterical."

"OK by me." Tony was relieved. He had been worried that she would want to watch some type of a romantic movie that would send his hormones to the races again. Tony grabbed forks and napkins and made his way back out to the sofa table to set them side by side next to the couch. In what had become a custom over the years, they would set couch cushions down on the floor between the couch and the sofa table and sit on the cushions while eating off of the sofa table. The cushions added just the right amount of height to convert the sofa table into a giant TV tray. Tony pulled off one of the longer cushions that they could share while eating.

Pepper pulled both the lasagna and the bread out of the oven. She had also pulled out plates and utensils out onto the counter. "Everything is ready. Would you like me to fix a plate for you?"

Tony hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a plate. "Only if you let me fix one for you. I know you haven't been eating well either the last three weeks, either. You need to keep up your strength so you can pound our opponents tomorrow."

"Pound, Tony?" She rolled her eyes. "This is supposed to be a fun, charity event, not a cage match." She pulled out a salad bowl and made a salad for herself.

"How much lasagna do you want?" he asked as he scooped out a big piece of lasagna onto her plate. "You can take your salad into the living room and I will bring your plate to you."

"One of your scoops is plenty for me, thanks. I can always come back for more later." She grabbed the plate full of bread sticks. "I have the bread sticks. What do you want to drink?"

"Water's fine." He replied as he took her plate of lasagna into the living room sitting it down. Pepper followed him in and sat both her salad and the breadsticks on the table.

Tony started piling his plate full of lasagna. Pepper had pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge and took them to the table, sitting down in front of her plates. Tony joined her in a few minutes with his plate balanced on one hand.

"Jarvis, please play Kung Fu Hustle." Pepper asked as she began to eat one of the breadsticks.

Tony ate all of his lasagna and 9 breadsticks before he declared himself finished. Pepper managed to finish all of her lasagna and 2 breadsticks which for her was a lot of food. The movie was funny and very short.

Tony stacked up all of the dishes and got up from the table. "You stay put and relax. Remember, I'm taking care of the dishes."

Pepper picked up the couch cushion and placed it back on the couch. She sat down heavily and leaned back contently, her eyes drooping. It was still early in the evening, but she was visibly exhausted from traveling the past 3 weeks. Tony was watching her as he loaded the dishwasher and put up the lasagna leftovers into the fridge. He retrieved a blanket and a large pillow from the downstairs linen closet and went over to the couch. Pepper looked up at him and held her arms open as an invitation for him to join her on the couch. He gently draped the blanket around her shoulders, and placed the pillow in her lap. He lay down with his head on her lap, looking up and smiling at her.

"Hey Jarvis" he said quietly "throw up the Daily Show on the TV, low volume." Tony knew that this was one of Pepper's favorite shows, and she often went to sleep with this show on.

She slowly stroked his forehead, brushing his long hair back away from his face with her right hand. She rested her left hand over his reactor. Tony closed his eyes, sighing contentedly, knowing that she would be with him when he woke up. Within two minutes Tony was sound asleep, snoring lightly. Pepper looked down at him and smiled. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. He face relaxed and he smiled in his sleep. She yawned and her eyes began to droop.

"Jarvis lights down please." She asked "Please turn off the TV and wake us at 6:30 AM PST."

"My pleasure, Ms. Potts" he replied "And I might also add, so very good to have you home. Mr. Stark was absolutely beside himself missing you."

"Thank you Jarvis." She whispered "and thank you for taking good care of him for me. Good night."

"You are welcome. Good night, Ms. Potts." He replied as he lowered the light level and shut off the TV.

Pepper gently raised Tony's head and moved over as she placed the pillow under his head. She slid between Tony and the back of the oversized couch pulling the blanket over them. She wrapped her left arm around his waist and he stirred, mumbling her name.

"I'm here Tony." She whispered to him as he settled down again, and she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep within minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

About 5:00 AM, Tony woke up slowly, feeling a warm body pressed up to his front. He had rolled over to his left side during the night effectively pressing Pepper into the back of the couch. She was cold natured and he was naturally a warm body, usually sleeping ah natural, with only a sheet for cover. He was happy to be her personal, portable heater. He became aware that his erection was wedged between their stomachs, but Pepper didn't seem to be in any discomfort. She was breathing steadily into his Adam's apple, her head resting slightly below his on the pillow. She slowly moved her arm that was still wrapped around his waist pulling him closer to her. He smiled and closed his eyes again, slowly drifting back to sleep.

Tony's eyes snapped open at the sound of Jarvis's voice informing them it was time to wake up so they could be on time to the volleyball tournament. He looked over to see Pepper's eyes wide open staring at him. She wiggled against him, and he realized that he was still pinning her against the back of the couch. As he moved away from her his morning erection stood out at full mast, poking her in the stomach.

"Sorry." He whispered as he quickly rolled away from her.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her, so that he came to rest on his back. He laid he forearm across his erection trying to keep the blanket from tenting so prominently.

"It's OK, Tony." She responded "Thank you for keeping me warm all night. I haven't slept that good in a long time."

"It was my pleasure." He replied turning his head to look at her smiling at him. He returned the smile. "I slept good, too. Look, I know I have garlic breath this morning, but could I kiss you anyway?"

She answered him by rolling over onto her elbow and leaning her face close to his, her eyes half lidded. He leaned forward slightly and captured her lips in a languid kiss.

"I apologize Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark" Jarvis suddenly and loudly said, sending them both rolling off of the couch in surprise with Pepper ending up on top of Tony on the floor "but you both need to get ready for the tournament and still have time to eat breakfast. Beach volleyball requires a high caloric intake."

"Thanks, Mom." Tony replied sarcastically as Pepper chuckled.

Pepper got up off the floor with Tony's help. "We need to get our clothes out of the dryer." She said as she made her way to the laundry room. She opened the dryer and started handed Tony his shorts and top. "Oh god, I hope my top hasn't shrunk. I used cold water and the cool setting on the dryer."

Tony looked up to the ceiling in a prayer-like manner.

"Don't you dare say a word." She warned him.

"I didn't say anything, Pepper. Can't a guy just dream." She smacked him playfully on the arm as they turned to go upstairs.

"I've heard that if you wet clothing it stretches back out again. You know that you have a standing invitation to shower with me any time, Ms. Potts. You can wear your beach clothes. I won't mind." Tony remarked lacing his fingers with Pepper's.

"So very kind of you, Mr. Stark" she replied true to form "but I don't think that our tight schedule this morning would allow for that."

Tony looked up at the ceiling "Not one word, Jarvis." He warned.

Tony let go of her hand and watched as she walked down the hall towards her bedroom. She glanced over at him just before she entered her bedroom. He waved at her and gave her a big smile. She smiled back before she left his sight.

Tony went into his bedroom and went into his dresser. He pulled out one of the top drawers and pulled out a small waterproof pouch stuck way in the back of the drawer and tied it securely inside the pocket of his new beach shorts.

"Jarvis, we are all set for today, right?" he asked the AI in a hushed voice.

"Yes, sir." The AI replied quietly. "I will send an alarm to your sports watch giving you a least a 15 minute heads up on the arrival of the banner. Dummy and Butterfingers have already packed the cabana tent, towels, small ice chest stocked, chairs, and portable shower in the trunk of the hot rod, as well as a case of SPF 70 sun block for Ms. Potts."

"Very good." Tony acknowledged as he took the shorts with him into the bathroom. He quickly peeled off his clothes to take a shower, shooting them across the room, aiming for the clothes hamper, but missing. He thought about Pepper and how good it felt to kiss her this morning. "Oh, and the next time you interrupt us kissing again, I will cancel your Net-Flicks account."

"Understood, sir." The AI replied. Tony could almost swear that he heard amusement in the AI's voice.

Tony entered his shower and sat down on the sitting ledge. He needed to take the edge off before he spent the better part of the day staring at the backside of a semi naked Pepper. He didn't want to embarrass himself by falling in the shower, so he stayed seated as he stroked his already hardened manhood. "Oh, Pepper" he moaned getting harder he fantasized about making love on the beach. "I want you so bad." He said to himself getting lost in the fantasy, as he felt his orgasm finally build up and release. He wanted to scream, but he forced himself to keep himself quiet as he body shook. He finally slumped against the wall of the shower, spent. He stood on shaky legs and washed his body and hair. After drying off he looked at his reflection critically in the mirror before starting to shave. So far Pepper had not commented on whether or not she liked his beardless look. He decided that he would subtly question her today on the subject. No doubt that being beardless speeded up the shaving process.

"Sir, Ms. Potts is inquiring on your current status." Jarvis interrupted just as Tony finished shaving.

"I'll be downstairs in less than 2 minutes." He called out looking at his watch. Apparently his 'diversion' in the shower had gone on a long time, and without him realizing it.

He quickly brushed his teeth and his hair. As he opened his bathroom door he could smell waffles cooking. Pepper was pampering him and he was late. He quickly dressed, grabbed his sandals and ran down the stairs, nearly knocking Pepper down as he rounded the corner to the kitchen. He quickly caught her and used his momentum to pick her up bridal style and swing her around. As he looked down at her, he noticed that she was wearing a light blue terry cloth cover-up over her sexy beachwear.

"Sorry I took so long" he started as he sat her feet back on the ground, needing something to divert her from being angry with him. "I was trying to decide whether or not to shave my legs. You know that body builders shave."

"Personally, I like your legs just the way they are: hairy." She replied with a smile "I really don't think the metro look will work for you. I made waffles for us for breakfast. "

"They smell delicious, I'm hungry. Thank you for making breakfast." He rapidly said as he pulled out the barstool for her to sit down. "The hot rod is already packed and ready to go."

"Packed? With what?" she asked watching him pour almost half a bottle of syrup on his waffles.

"The cabana tent, towels, small ice chest stocked with drinks and snacks, chairs, the portable shower, as well as a case of SPF 70 sun block for you." He started as she looked at him obviously amused.

"What no kitchen sink?" she teased.

"Naah, we don't need it." He mumbled his mouth full of waffle.

She watched him while she ate. Feeling her gaze, he looked at her. "What? Don't tell me you want the kitchen sink. It's going to hard to fit it in the trunk with all the other stuff, though."

"No sink, Tony." She said chuckling "You just continue to surprise me." His mouth was full of waffle again and he raised his eyebrows as a silent question to her. "A good surprise Tony." She answered.

He grinned at her and took a big gulp of orange juice to clear out his mouth. "I'm trying my best, Pepper." He admitted almost shyly. "I just don't have a lot of experience taking care of other people. You know that I can't even take care of myself."

"But you're a fast learner." She replied leaning over and kissing him sweetly on the cheek.

He stopped eating, reaching out to pull her onto his lap and into a deep kiss. She tasted like waffles, toothpaste, coffee, and Pepper. His mind went blank as her arms went around his neck and she pulled him even closer to her, kissing him back with equal force and enthusiasm.

"I am a very fast learner." He told her in a daze as she broke the kiss and gently slid out of his lap and back onto her barstool.

"We need to leave in 10 minutes." She said glancing over at him with a dimpled smile on her face.

"Yes, dear." He teased smiling back at her, batting his eyelids at her. "You cooked, I'm doing dishes." He got up and leaned over her to plant a soft kiss on her cheek as he picked up her plate and coffee cup, moving over to pick up his plate and glass. He rinsed off the dishes quickly and placed them in the dishwasher.

Pepper grabbed her bag. "I'm bringing my camera to document the event." She said teasing. "Getting a picture of you in beach shorts and beardless goes right along with getting a picture of Big Foot or the Lock Ness Monster."

"Well you know what they say about men with big feet don't you?" he replied suggestively. He grabbed his wallet and put it in his shorts pocket, as well as his keys.

"I'll keep that in mind for future reference." Pepper teased. "Let's go, so we won't be late."


	6. Chapter 6

They parked the hot rod in the public beach parking lot. Tony carried the cabana tent, chairs, and rolling ice chest, while Pepper brought the towel bag, and her beach bag stuffed full of sun block, and the portable shower, just in case they needed a warm shower.

Pepper walked up to the sign in table and signed them in. They had drawn the number 7. An elderly gentleman behind the table perked up when he saw Pepper and smiled up at her, even going as far as batting his eyelashes at her. Tony bleakly thought about how pissed Pepper would be at him if he decked the old guy for flirting with her. Instead, Tony set down the stuff he was carrying and possessively placed an arm around her waist, marking her as his.

"Lucky number 7" the gentleman teased Pepper totally ignoring Tony as he used a marker to write the number on the outside of her bicep as she held her left arm up for him. "For the lucky lady!" He then looked at Tony and Tony obediently held up his left arm as the gentleman wrote the number 7 on the outside of his bicep also. He winked knowingly at Tony "I think maybe you are the lucky one, son." Tony nodded his head and smiled back at him.

Pepper rolled her eyes at them both, and then took Tony by the arm after picking up their stuff again, and led him towards an area just upwind of the volley ball courts, where other teams were setting up. When they decided on a spot, Tony started setting up the cabana tent and placed the chairs inside. Pepper helped anchor the tent and moved bags and the ice chest into the tent. Tony took one of the large towels and laid it on the floor of the tent near the back.

"You need to lie down so I can put sun block on you and it will have time to soak in before our first match" He said pulling out a tube of SPF 70."I have a vested interest in keeping you burn free."

She eyed him suspiciously, but complied with his request and laid chest down on the towel.

Tony got down on his knees and started gently rubbing in sun block on the backs of her legs. He then moved up to her back. "You know if you would just take your top off, this would go much faster." He teased gently rubbing in the block to her back, making sure to lift of the edges of her top to apply the sun block there also. To his surprise, his body didn't find applying lotion to her sexually arousing. He was keeping his focus on just wanting to take care of her needs, not his. It was as though he had gotten over his acute Pepper deprivation after being fed a diet of touches and kisses yesterday and this morning. And of course jacking off in the shower this morning had helped.

"Taking my top off would lead to all sorts of activity not related to either applying sun block or beach volleyball." She laughed, turning her head to look up at him.

"You know I had to try, Pepper" he replied seriously, finishing the back of her neck. "Turn over."

"You know I can put sun block on my front side by myself, don't you? She asked him, moving to sit up.

He gently pushed her back down on the towel. "Please let me finish. Remember, I am learning to take care of you. Just let me do my job."

She blinked a few times outwardly surprised by what he meant as 'his job'.

Pepper watched his face at he continued to apply lotion to her skin. He wore a mask of total concentration, and his hands were quick to memorize the contours of her body as he continued. It suddenly dawned on her why he was so serious.

His eyes caught hers as he finished. "I just want to make sure and do this right so you won't get sun burned. I can't stand to see you hurt. Now please sit up for me so I can put lotion on your face."

Pepper closed her eyes as he gently rubbed in lotion on her face. "We can't let your freckles burn, can we?"

He finished up her face and started looking inside her bag looking for lip balm.

Pepper opened her eyes and watched him. "What are you looking for?"

"Lip balm." He replied. "I sure as hell don't want your lips to burn. What would I do without them?"

Pepper reached inside a side pocket of her bag and pulled out a tube. She pulled the cap off and applied a generous amount to her lips. "Want some?"

"I guess." He replied looking a little sheepishly at her.

She leaned over into him, and kissed him soundly on the lips. "There you go. And thank you for lotioning me up." She said simply. "Now it's your turn. Let's trade places. She reached over to her beach bag and pulled out some SPF 30.

"But wait, I want more lip balm, pretty please." He closed his eyes waiting on another kiss." She quickly kissed him once more and he grinned and laid down on the towel. "Iron Man doesn't burn, he tans."

"You always say that and you still end up getting burned. Now let me do MY job."

She replied starting with his legs.

Tony couldn't help groaning as her hands massaged in the lotion. 'Raging hard on Number 2 for the day in progress' he dimly thought to himself as her hands moved to his back as she worked around his surf top to rub his shoulders. He shifted his torso, trying to keep his erection from getting trapped in a more uncomfortable position. He turned his head towards her, squeezing his eyes closed.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Pepper teased seeing the strained look on his face.

He opened his eyes and smiled, remembering the dance they had shared when he said that to her. He answered in a low voice, filled with arousal "Oh no. I always get a raging hard on when you are rubbing my back with sun block while I am laying face down on a towel, alone with you in a beach cabana, dressed only in a pair of beach shorts with no underwear on."

Pepper chuckled as she finished up his back and placed a dot of sun block one his nose, making him cross his eyes. "I could fire you, you know."

"You can't fire me, Pepper. Who would you hire to keep giving you those 'How to be a Great CEO' lessons?" Tony replied as he looked deeply into her eyes. She smiled at him as the blue in her eyes darkened in what Tony felt was more than just amusement. He quickly rolled over onto his back, gently taking her by the elbows and pulling her on top of him. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the rest of our lives."

She smiled at him and managed to close the sun block and drop the tube to the sand, before she wrapped her arms around his neck as he began to kiss her passionately.

As he felt her body descend onto his, he couldn't help but thrust his hips up into her hips gently, his tented shorts clearly demonstrating his aroused state. It seemed as if her skin had enveloped him with both scent and heat, setting every nerve on fire, and he quickly felt his self control being lost in the feeling of skin on skin. Much to his surprise, she gently rocked her hips into his erection, as she moaned into the kiss.

"Hi neighbors!" A masculine voiced boomed into their cabana. "Sorry to break up the love-in, but they just called all mixed teams over for the draw."

Tony instinctively pulled Pepper behind him protecting her as he interpreted the sudden interruption as a physical threat in his sex fogged brain. Within a fraction of a second, he was up on one knee ready to launch himself at the intruder.

The man crouched down in front of their tent started laughing. "Didn't mean to put you in defense mode, brother. I am certainly no threat to you or your lovely lady here. I am verrry, verrry happily married, thank you very much. You might want to put some ice on that swelling, though. This is a PG rated beach."

Pepper rose up to her knees, put her arm around Tony's waist and smiled at the man. "Thanks for letting us know about the meeting and for the ice advice. Maybe we can get over this awkward beginning. My name is Pepper and the guy in need of ice here is Tony."

Tony's brain started working again, and as he looked at the man, he started thinking that he had met this guy somewhere before, but he couldn't pinpoint the time or place.

"My name is John, but everybody calls me 'Shaggy' for obvious reasons." John said. "Come on over here, I think it's finally safe!" He motioned to his right and a very petite woman with short brown hair made her way over to John's side. "Here is my better half. Pepper and Tony, this is my wife Velma."

Pepper stood up as best she could in the cabana tent and got up to shake Velma's hand. Then she reached out to shake John's hand. "Pleased to meet you, Velma. Do we call you Shaggy or John?" Pepper smiled as she took notice of both Shaggy and Velma's appearance and demeanor. She decided that they could indeed be stunt doubles for Shaggy and Velma of Scooby-Doo fame.

"You'll need to call him Shaggy out here on the beach." Velma replied with a giggle. "He usually won't answer to John."

Tony rose up and moved to stand, crouched actually, directly behind, but slightly to the right side of Pepper, trying to hide his still deflating erection. "Nice to meet both of you." He shook both their hands. "Sorry about what happened, but my brain was in primal mode at the time."

"I know man" John laughed "I hate it when that happens. Next time I'll knock first."

Tony smiled at John, knowing that he understood his reaction.

"I guess we need to go over to the meeting, then." Tony said as he took Pepper's hand and entwined their fingers. They slowly walked over towards the group of officials gathered together at one of the courts.

There were 16 teams total in their bracket. Shaggy and Velma were Team # 3, but as it worked out, Tony and Pepper were not playing against them in the first round of matches. They all wanted to watch the first matches, knowing that they were going to play in the second set of matches. Tony and Shaggy had gone back to their respective tents and brought chairs and waters back for them all.

Tony reached over and pulled Pepper's hand into his as they watched. "You need to drink up, Pep." Tony reminded her. "You need to stay hydrated."

Pepper smiled at him, and then leaned over to kiss him on the lips. "Thank you for taking such good care of me."

Velma turned to Pepper and Tony and cheerfully asked. "So how long have you two been married?"

Tony looked at Pepper who turned and smiled at Velma. "We're not married."

"Yet." Tony interjected squeezing Pepper's hand gently.

Pepper looked back at Tony and knotted her eyebrows together. Tony pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her hand. "Yet." He repeated to her softly.

John jumped into the conversation loudly. "Well you could have fooled me! I was betting you two had been married for at least 10 years."

"Shaggy and I have been married for 19 years." Velma explained quietly. "And as much as I would like to sometimes, I haven't killed him yet. It seems that opposites do indeed attract."

"I agree completely, opposites do indeed attract." Pepper chuckled to Velma. "Tony and I have known each other for almost 11 years now. And yes, on occasion, I have had homicidal thoughts too."

Tony leaned over to kiss Pepper on the side of the neck. "Justifiably so, I might add." He tacked on to the conversation.

Pepper raised a hand and caressed his cheek. Then she finished her water, and reached for another. "You need to drink up too, Tony."

"Say" John leaned over stealing a sip of water from Velma's bottle, and then motioning to Pepper. "don't you think that 11 years is long enough to know each other then? It's about damn time you got married."

"19 Years is a long time." Pepper countered "How many children do you two have?"

"We have four of them. All teenagers." Velma said "they are currently driving Grandma and Granddad crazy."

"Yep." John added gleefully "Today is Parents Day Out. Do you two have any rug rats? Maybe you two are like Brangelina and don't need the marriage, just the kids, huh."

Tony hugged Pepper and grinned at John and Velma. "Nope. No rug rats….yet!"

The first matches had ended and Tony pulled Pepper up off of the chair. "Let me help stretch you. I don't want you pulling a muscle ogling my legs while we are playing."

Pepper opened her mouth to no doubt reply back with a sarcastic comment, but he quickly started massaging her shoulders and back, and she closed her mouth and sighed in enjoyment. After Tony had finished, she then proceeded to stretch out her legs and held on to him as a balance point. They had stretched together before playing beach volleyball against usually Rodey and Happy, so there was a certain amount of routine in this. However, today, there was a lot gentler touching going on between them both as they stretched. Tony loved the feel of her leaning on him for support.

"Shall we go kick some sand volleyball butt, Ms. Potts." He teased as she smiled at him.

"Absolutely, Mr. Stark." She replied pulling on his arm and leading the way to the court.


	7. Chapter 7

Their first match went well. Tony was proud of his abilities on the volleyball court. What he lacked in height he made up for in quickness and jumping ability. Being Iron Man had definitely built up muscle and sharpened his instincts and reflexes. Pepper was playing better than he had ever seen her play before. She always amazed him with her jumping abilities. He had teased her over the years that her legs were made out of spring steel. Tony thought her leg strength was in direct proportion to the height of her high heels. She was a very good blocker on the net. He also enjoyed blocking with her at the net. But he admitted to himself that that enjoyment stemmed from having their bodies pressed up tightly together. Pepper really excelled at serving. Her serve had so much movement in the ball, that their opponents missed all but 3 of her serves. They were using their old signal system for ball placement and it was working well for them.

Their match finished up quickly, their opponents only scoring 8 times against them in 3 games. After shaking hands with the other team under the net, Tony grabbed Pepper's hand pulled into a quick kiss on the lips as they walked over to the officials table to report scores.

"Yuck, sandy lips are not good, Tony." Pepper fussed as they left the official's table and she grabbed him by the hand and led him over to the outdoor showers.

She pushed him under the shower head and turned on the water and held on to the handle so it wouldn't turn off automatically.

Tony watched her expression when he pulled out the waist band on his shorts in order to wash the sand out. He smiled as her eyes seemed to darken in arousal as she stared at his crotch. She suddenly blushed and looked away quickly. He finished rinsing the sand off the rest of his body quickly.

"Your turn." Tony said gently pulling on her arm to move her under the shower head.

He turned on the water and held the handle on while she washed the sand from her body. He knew better than to look at her while she rinsed off. Instead he focused on calculations for suit upgrades with his eyes closed.

""OK Tony, I'm done now." She said which broke his concentration. He opened his eyes and looked at her. She smiled at him and took his hand to lead them back to their cabana.

Tony pulled a clean towel out of the bag and gently dried her off. "I need to get more lotion on you before the next match. Don't lay down this time." She stood still for him as he grabbed the sun block and began rubbing the lotion on her legs moving up to her back, shoulders, and neck. He gently turned her around to start to work on applying sun block to the front of her body.

"If I didn't know better, I would swear that you are enjoying this." She teased him smiling.

"I just can't wait until we get to the lip balm part of this again." He replied as he moved up to her face and gently dabbed sun block on her cheeks, before rubbing it into her skin. He finished her face and placed the bottle back in the bag and retrieved the tube of lip balm. She smiled and closed her eyes as he softly rubbed the lip balm onto her lips. As he finished and re-capped the tube he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Her hands moved to the back of his neck and she deepened the kiss.

"I just want to make sure that your lips don't get burned." She whispered breaking the kiss. "I have grown quite fond of kissing them."

"You have, huh?" he replied as he kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tightly into him.

"We just can't leave these two alone, can we Velma?" John announced loudly as he stood in the entrance to Tony and Pepper's beach cabana. "If you could keep your hands off each other long enough to play volleyball, you might just make a pretty good team."

"John Thomas McKenzie " Velma said moving to stand next to John "please leave them alone. Forgive the interruption, but Shaggy has never had the word 'subtle' associated with any aspect of his personality, ever. Congratulations on your win. Looks like we are all headed to the second round in about 15 minutes. Do you have snacks? I brought enough to feed a small army if you would like some." With that said she yanked John's arm and pulled him back over to their cabana.

"I just hope they don't have Scooby Snacks over there." Tony whispered as Pepper laughed against his chest. "I am hungry enough to try one though. So what do you say we go visit our neighbors? I go get our chairs from courtside and join you in their cabana."

"OK. I'll bring waters for us." She replied wiping his lips, spreading the lip balm more evenly onto his lips.

He kissed her fingers and smiled at her before walking out of their cabana.

"Hi neighbors." Pepper said walking into their cabana. "Tony went to get out chairs. Do you need waters? We brought plenty."

"We are fine on water, thanks." Velma said "Pick out what you want for snacks. I have high carb bars and fruit."

"Bird food if you ask me." John replied. "You have any jerky in there Velma?"

"Did someone say jerky?" Tony asked setting the chairs down in the shade.

"See there, I told you Velma. We men need caveman food, not foo-foo food." John blurted out.

"John, can't you just eat what's good for your non-cave man body for a change?" Velma countered. She slowly pulled out a clear sealed container with what looked to be homemade jerky inside it.

"Ugg, Scooby Snacks for Shaggy and Tony…me likey." John teased as Tony quickly glanced over at Pepper who was rolling her eyes. "Actually Velma makes great jerky, really lean and dehydrated, not cured, so it has a lot less salt."

John handed Tony a piece and Tony immediately took a bite. "Very good." Tony managed to get out between mouthfuls. "Thanks."

"You ladies can have all of the fruity bars and such. We men will stick with meat thank you very much." John sitting down next to Tony with the jerky container perched between them.

Soon it was time to play the second round matches. They wished each other luck and separated. Tony and Pepper won the next match much like the first one. They joined John and Velma again between matches noting the John and Velma had also one their second match.

Tony and Pepper won their third match, but by a lesser margin. They caught the end of John and Velma's match and were cheering for them to win, which they did.

They now had an hour before the finals, and had agreed to share lunch together.

Tony and Pepper bought John and Velma lunch as repayment for sharing their snacks earlier.

Tony made sure that he and John got the chicken wraps leaving Pepper and Velma with the veggie wraps from a local food vendor. Everyone was happy with the selection.

"Don't think for a moment you can bribe us for first place." John teased as he rearranged chairs so they could all sit together in the shade.

"Darn" Pepper replied laughing "I thought for sure that the wraps would work."

"I think we are fairly evenly matched" Velma started "it's just a matter of luck who ends up placing first."

Tony was silent. He had texted Jarvis with an approximate time for the banner flyover, and he had hoped that the timing would work out. He unconsciously felt for the ring securely tied in his pocket.

Pepper noticed his movement. "You didn't pull a muscle did you?" she whispered to him.

"No. Just rearranging my shorts. Just an itch I needed to scratch." He replied looking up at her through his lashes.

"We need to lotion up again before the next match." Pepper said as she smiled back at him.

Tony took a big bite of his wrap and waggled his eyebrows at her in a suggestive manner.

"If you two ever decide to get married, you should look us up." John spoke up "Velma and I own the Shaggy's Sugar Shack Wedding Chapel in Santa Monica."

Tony had to suddenly and silently keep himself from chocking on his wrap.

"I have heard that Shaggy's Sugar Shack is a great place to get married. Lots of fun." Pepper noted looking at John.

"We try to make every wedding a memorable event." Velma replied "We like to think that our clients' low divorce rate is a direct result of our wedding chapel."

"As of last year, our divorce rate was only 11%." John piped in. "and of course we take all the credit for that."

Tony was slowly recovering. "Most impressive." He commented only mildly tempted to ask if Scooby Snacks were included in the package.

They hurriedly finished lunch wanting to have enough time to relax and prepare for their match.

"Hey you two" John called out as Pepper and Tony left for their cabana "Don't go smooching on each other and forget to show up for our match, OK?"

"John!" Velma warned.

Tony suddenly picked up Pepper bridal style and carried her quickly into their cabana hearing both John and Velma laugh at his actions. He set her down gently.

"Do you want to do this standing up or lying down?" Pepper asked pulling out the tubes of sun block.

"Lying down is a much better position for many different activities, not just for applying sun block you know." Tony answered smiling seductively at her.

"I have heard that before." Pepper replied making a rotation movement with the index finger on her right hand.

Tony obediently laid face down on the towel, then turning his head to face her. "You should hurry up with the sun block. I don't want to shortchange my time lotioning you up. Your skin needs protection more than mine does."

Pepper pursed her lips in thought as she applied sun block to him. She finished up quickly and he rolled over and sat up in front of her. She gently applied sun block to his face as Tony closed his eyes. She finished up with the lip balm and kissed him on the lips as a signal that she was finished.

"Thank you." He replied pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "My turn. Assume the position, woman!" he teased, earning him a soft punch to the arm. "Hey watch out, you know I am very delicate!" He looked longingly at her as she lay down on the towel. Tony squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep his libido in check. He focused all of attention on the fact that he was protecting her by doing this. Tony was surprised at just how strong his protective instincts for her had become recently. He had always been protective of her, but since the Expo, his protective nature had gone into overdrive. He finished her back quickly, nudging her gently in the ribs to get her to roll over.

As she rolled over, Tony locked eyes with her and was surprised to see the amount of arousal in her eyes. She quickly closed her eyes as if to keep him from seeing her expression. He dutifully finished rubbing sun block on the rest of her body. He took one of her hands and gently pulled her up into a sitting position and began rubbing the sun block on her face as she kept her eyes closed. He placed the sun block back into the bag and pulled out the lip balm. As he applied the lip balm, she opened her eyes and put her arms around him. When he capped the tube, she tenderly pressed her lips to his. He reached down and wrapped his arms around her waist as he deepened the kiss and gently picked her up to her feet.

"Thank you." She said softly as they broke from the kiss.

Tony grinned at her. "You want to stretch out here in the shade or go to courtside?"

"Here." She replied as she held out her arms to him.

They stretched each other quickly and thoroughly. When they were finished, Tony hugged her and whispered in her ear. "Good luck, Tigger."

"Oh, now it's 'Tigger'. Before it was 'your woman'" she laughed.

"On the court its 'Tigger', off the court you're my 'woman'." Tony replied emphasizing the 'woman' part as he entwined their hands as they left their cabana to walk to courtside.

John and Velma were already on the court. "I thought we had scared you into a default." John laughed as Velma poked him in the shoulder in an attempt to silence him.

"Are you kidding?" Tony replied "We were just trying to lure you into a false sense of an easy victory."

Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony and held her hand out to Velma "Good luck to both of you. I think this is going to be a fun match."

Velma smiled back at her as she shook her hand. "Good luck to both of you, too. You're right; it will be a fun match."

John and Velma were playing very well and John was unsurprisingly loud on the court. Velma had given up poking him in the back to get him to tone down.

Pepper just laughed at John's commentary and played better in response to John's comments. Tony felt his testosterone level go up in response to John's heckling, but he restrained any comments back to John. Several times Pepper had arched her eyebrows at Tony in surprise at his restraint. John was very good at spike placement, and Tony was working hard getting under the ball. Pepper was serving the ball as well as he had ever seen her serve before. The scoring remained fairly even. John and Velma won the first game and Tony and Pepper won the second game. In the third game, Tony noticed that Pepper had started to grow weary from blocking John and so he began to rush the net more to help her block. In the end, it was Velma's serve that won the match for her and John, but only by 2 points.

"Holy cow!" John commented as he shook hands with Pepper and Tony under the net. "I gotta hand it to you two. You two do make a tough team. I think I was just about to throw up a white flag"

Velma shook hands with Tony and Pepper "It was a great match. John is right, you two are really good."

"You guys play a mean game of beach volleyball." Tony admitted.

"Yes, you two do." Pepper added.

All four of them walked to the officials table.

Since they were the last of the matches, the officials informed them that the awards ceremony was to begin in about 15 minutes at the covered pavilion near the parking lot.

Tony was grateful that they were running on schedule for the tournament. Suddenly Tony's phone chirped at him. It was the message from Jarvis informing him that the pilot of the banner plane was 20 minutes from being over the volleyball courts.

Pepper pulled Tony by the arm towards the shower. "Let's get showered and have a water Tony."

Tony smiled at her. "How about we shower together this time?"

She pursed her lips at his comment. "Nice try, but remember we are at a PG Rated beach. And I would hate to give up our T-Shirts and trophies for meaningless sex."

He took her hand in hers and stared deeply into her eyes. "It would never be meaningless with you."

Pepper gave him a soft smile and gently pulled on his hand pulling into the shower. She pulled him into the shower with her and turned on the water valve soaking them both. "I think we both need a cold shower." She said laughing at how Tony jumped slightly as the cold water hit his back.

She stayed close to him but closed her eyes as he rinsed out his shorts, and he did the same closing his eyes as she rinsed out her suit. Wordlessly they left the shower hand in hand and walked into their cabana.

Pepper handed him a water bottle and pulled out one for herself. She then reached into her bag and pulled out a sun hat and sunglasses. Tony came up behind her and touched her shoulder gently.

"Just checking to see if I need to put more lotion on you." He said pressing a kiss into the side of her neck. "You could still get burned."

"I'll be OK Tony. "She replied "I've got my hat on to help shield me. We should be getting over to the pavilion before John and Velma come searching for us."

"OK, let's go." He replied reaching out to take her hand, kissing it gently, before leading out of the cabana. He checked his watch and looked up at the sky.

John and Velma were already in the pavilion and a crowd was gathering. The officials had chosen to award their bracket first, so Tony was still optimistic that the banner plane would have good timing. He realized that he was actually getting nervous. Sensing a change in him, Pepper turned to look at him her face wearing a puzzled expression.

"You have won many awards in your life, Tony." She teased "are you getting nervous about a t-shirt and a plastic trophy?"

"This is my first award with you as my partner, sure I'm nervous." He replied quickly.

She looked at him curiously. His raised his eyebrows at her in a questioning look.

The tournament sponsors were introduced and applauded in turn before the presentation of the awards. Tony kept his eyes glued to the sky. Pepper noticed and squeezed his hand to get his attention back to the presentations. He turned to her and smiled shyly.

As their names were announced, the tournament director gave them their t-shirts and trophies. John and Velma stepped up next to receive their t-shirts and first place trophy. Suddenly Tony heard a small plane engine. Some people in the crowd had started to talk excitedly.

Tony reached into his pocket and untied the bag, holding it firmly in his hand.

As the plane approached the pavilion, the banner could be seen trailing the plane. Tony pulled Pepper to him and motioned for her to look at the plane. John and Velma noticed their actions and looked towards the plane.

The plane reached the pavilion and the banner slowly passed by the crowd. Tony looked at Pepper as she started to read the banner.

Tony placed their t-shirts and trophies on the concrete floor and pulled open the small bag and pulled out the engagement ring and kneeled down and he took her left hand in his hands.

The banner read:

**Pepper, you are my soul mate and the love of my life. **

**You hold my heart and our future in your hands. **

**Please do me the honor and marry me. Love, Tony**

Pepper gasped as she read the banner, as some folks in the crowd started to notice Tony kneeling in front of her. John and Velma moved closer to them, big smiles on both of their faces.

"What do you say Pepper?" Tony quietly asked her his eyes pleading. The crowd suddenly grew quiet waiting for her answer.

She smiled at him tears starting to form in her eyes. "I say 'yes', Tony."

The crowd started to applaud and cheer at her answer as Tony slipped the ring onto her finger and slowly let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He slowly stood up and locked eyes with her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he placed his hands on her hips. They hugged each other tenderly as Pepper laid her head on his chest softly crying.

Tony rubbed her back and smiled down at her. "I hope those are tears of joy." He said teasingly reaching up to wipe her cheek gently.

"They are." She replied smiling back at him as they broke apart.

John and Velma moved to them gave them each a big hug.

"Nice move with the banner, Tony." John said appreciably as he shook his hand.

"Wow!" Velma added, "I am so happy for you both."

Tony picked up their t-shirts and trophies as they all left the pavilion and made their way back to their cabana.

They silently started packing up the contents of their cabana. Tony stole quick glances at Pepper as they packed and noticed she continued to have a smile on her face. She would occasionally look over at him and her smile would grow a little bigger and he would smile back at her in return. The Pepper he knew and loved was above all else a very private person. He realized that his own overblown ego was already making grandiose plans for their wedding to be the 'wedding of the century'. It suddenly dawned on him that that wasn't at all what Pepper would want. She certainly did not need any added stress to her already hectic life, and just the wedding plans alone would be a heavy burden to bear for her. And as he continued to think about it, he realized that all he ever wanted was just to **be** married to Pepper. He had dreamed about it for years. Maybe it was time to kick his own ego to the curb for a change.

"Say Pep" Tony started as he folded up and bagged their chairs. "How do you feel about a small wedding, maybe only a small ceremony?"

"Is that what you really want, Tony?" she asked shaking out the towels and placing them in her bag. "Knowing you and your ego, I wouldn't expect you to want anything 'small'."

"The only thing I really want for the rest of my life is waking up every day next to you." He replied somberly. "Planning out a big wedding will take months, maybe even a year of high stress planning. I don't think either of us needs any more stress in our lives. I think we could put that wedding planning time into doing other things like us enjoying a **long** honeymoon and working on starting a family."

Pepper looked at him expectantly. "You mean you just want to elope?"

He smiled at her, suddenly caught up in the concept. "Exactly." He replied with a big grin. She smiled back at him. Suddenly a thought hit him and he swore he recognized of a similar thought in Pepper's eyes. "Are you thinking what I

am thinking?"

"If it has to do with Scooby Snacks and a Sugar Shack, then I could be." She laughed.

Tony grabbed her hand and he pulled her quickly over to John and Velma's cabana which was being rapidly disassembled.

"Pepper and I were curious at the availability of the Sugar Shack Wedding Chapel for say, this afternoon?" Tony asked as Velma laughed and clapped her hands in obvious delight.

"I'd say that we could definitely squeeze you guys in say around 6:00PM." John agreed with a big grin on his face. "If you can get there about 5:30 we can get all of the BS paperwork done and we could get you hitched and headed for wedding bliss by no later than 6:30."

"Deal!' Tony replied squeezing Pepper's hand.

"That's not going to inconvenience you is it?" Pepper added wanting to make sure that their impatience wouldn't upset any other ceremony plans.

"Of course not" Velma replied "it is still Parents Day Out and we had nothing scheduled for this afternoon. As our name implies, our weddings are casual, but you can of course dress any way you wish."

"However no ceremonies in the nude will be performed." John added with a flourish. "We like to keep our weddings at a PG rating. Just FYI."

"We can keep it at PG." Pepper replied laughing.

Pepper helped Tony take down the cabana and finish packing. They waved goodbye to John and Velma at the beach parking lot. Tony packed the trunk of the Hot Rod and they quickly left for Tony's mansion.


	8. Chapter 8

After checking for the wedding band box in his pants pocket for the 10th time, Tony stepped out of the Hot Rod and opened Pepper's door. They were both dressed in blue jeans. Tony had on a faded denim button down shirt and brown hiking boots. He had shaved his evening beard growth back into his trademark goatee at Pepper's request. Pepper had a long sleeve floral silk blouse on with blue sandals. Her hair was down in gentle curls.

They walked into the Sugar Shack hand in hand. Velma met them in the hallway.

"Hey you two." Velma said smiling broadly "Lets get you into Shaggy's office so he can get the paperwork going."

John welcomed them each with a big hug. "You two clean up pretty good. Sit down and make yourselves comfortable. First thing I'm going to need is IDs. I've got to follow procedures here for the marriage license. This is the boring part."

Velma pulled up a chair to sit besides Pepper, while watching over the proceedings. She reached over and patted Pepper's arm. "You know bureaucracy gets in the way of everything, even true love."

`Hmmm." John said sliding down his reading glasses to the tip of his nose. "It seems Velma, that we are about to marry two celebrities here."

Velma looked over at Tony and Pepper realization dawning in her eyes. "Out of beach clothes you two do look familiar."

"Does that mean we get a discount rate?" Tony said as Pepper poked him in the arm.

"Please ignore that John." Pepper laughed.

"Actually this whole ceremony was going to be on the house for you guys, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe we should be paying Ms. Virginia Potts and Mr. Anthony Stark here for getting married at our chapel. After all, what wedding chapel can top 'Iron Man got married here!' in their marketing campaign?"

Velma's eyes widened in embarrassment. "John, can't you behave even for a few minutes. We are not going to go and do that. Can't you tell that they need some privacy in their lives? Why else would they have gone to the volleyball tournament incognito?"

"Thanks Velma." Pepper started "but we don't expect either a discount or secrecy here. You are correct: we don't get a lot of privacy but that's just the way it is for us. We are use to it." She took Tony's hand in hers and looked into his eyes as he nodded to her. "We are more than OK with you using us as part of your business advertising. The only request we have would be if you hold off on filing our marriage licenses with public records until the end of next week so we can at least arrive at our honeymoon before the press can overtake us."

"You got it!" John agreed smiling.

Tony breathed out a sigh of relief as he kissed Pepper after placing her wedding band on her finger and being pronounced man and wife. The ceremony had been short, sweet, full of Beach Boys music, and, as promised, finished by 6:30PM. Tony entwined his right hand with her left and pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her ring finger.

"Mrs. Stark, I love you." He softly said as Pepper looked deeply into his eyes.

"Mr. Stark, I love you too." She replied leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips.

Pepper let him go and hugged Velma and John in turn. "Thanks so much for everything!" she said smiling at them both.

Tony shook John's hand and John immediately pulled him into a bear hug. Tony then hugged Velma gently. "Thanks." There was a brief period of silence between them. "Well, we need to be getting on to the airport and off to our honeymoon."

"You two don't be strangers now, because once we marry you, you are officially part of our family." Velma sincerely said as they walked out to the parking lot.

"Yeah, maybe we can set up a volleyball rematch soon." John said putting his arm around Velma's shoulders. His eyes turned serious for a moment. "You both stay safe, OK."

Tony knew what the meaning behind John's words were, and he sincerely smiled at John. "We will."

Tony helped Pepper into the Hot Rod and walked around the back of the car to get into the drivers seat. He smiled at the new bumper sticker on the rear bumper. The bumper sticker read: 'We got hitched at Shaggy's Sugar Shack in Santa Monica'.

Two weeks later John and Velma were watching the evening news in their office. A reporter at LAX was excitedly reporting the return of Tony and Pepper Stark from their honeymoon. The camera panned down the hallways leading to one of the airport exits and Tony and Pepper came in view surrounded by about a dozen security men. They were dressed in formal business attire. Tony's hair had been cut and his goatee had grown completely back. They both looked serious and professional, and very ready to deal with the paparazzi.

The reporter shouted out "Welcome back Mr. and Mrs. Stark!" as he attempted to get a comment from the pair.

Pepper graciously stopped to talk to the reporter, much to the reporter's surprise.

"Thank you, it's good to be back home.' Pepper said pulling Tony towards her.

"Yes it is." Tony commented smiling at Pepper.

"Is it true that you eloped?" the reporter asked the pair.

"Well, sort of" Pepper started "we got married at Shaggy's Sugar Shack in Santa Monica."

"And we highly recommend the place." Tony finished smiling slyly at the camera.

Velma and John quickly looked at each other in surprise as all of their business telephone lines lit up at once.

"Holy cow!" was all that John could get out before reaching for the telephone.


End file.
